


Why Oliver Queen Wears Green

by Symphony_of_the_Damned (SymphonyWizard)



Series: Queen of Krypton One-shots and Other Stories [1]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 23:39:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15375942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SymphonyWizard/pseuds/Symphony_of_the_Damned
Summary: Thirteen-year-old Oliver Queen is not adjusting to life in Smallville very well.  Specifically because of something green and glowy that happens to be capable of hurting his little brother, Clark.





	Why Oliver Queen Wears Green

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BigRed67](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigRed67/gifts), [phoenixnz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixnz/gifts), [rach320](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rach320/gifts).



“I hate green!” shouts thirteen-year-old Oliver Queen, grabbing a fistful of grass and flinging it as hard as he can.  First his dad makes them move from Star City to this hillbilly hell of a town called Smallville—which really lives up to its name—and then his brother falls into these green-glowing rocks.  They hurt him!  It was the first time that he ever saw his little brother bleed.  Of all the places they could move to from their big house in California which was only about a fifteen-minute walk from the nearest beach, they moved to a place with rocks that can hurt his little brother. 

Oliver has seen blood before—God knows he has had a few injuries over the years—but he thought his brother was indestructible.  He remembers about a year ago, they were on a field trip in southern California when a large earthquake broke out.  He would have been crushed by rubble if it weren’t for Clark shielding him with his body.  Then there were a few hours of digging themselves out of the rubble. Clark is strong—he can lift a ladder truck!—but even he can get worn out after a while.  Without any sunlight to sustain him—Oliver is still convinced his little brother is part plant—it was a race against time before he couldn’t shift anymore rubble. 

And now they live in a town where Clark trips and falls down a hill, landing in a bunch of rocks with a nasty green glow.  It looked like something out of a science fiction movie.  Well, Clark is an alien, so…

Oliver managed to get his seven-year-old brother away from those rocks, dragging him all the way back to the house, but he didn’t realize that there was something still wrong with him.  There was a sliver of the green rock wedged in his stomach.  His dad never screamed at him so much before.  Should Oliver take comfort that he at least didn’t slap him?  His parents have never laid a hand on him, but in that one instant, he was certain it would come.

When his father raised his hand, Oliver squeezed his eyes shut.  He thinks it was that that made his father calm down.  Admittedly, when Oliver opened his eyes and saw the horrified look on his father’s face, he felt satisfied, but the damage had already been done.  He turned around and ran out the door. 

He thinks an hour has passed and his resentment for everything green grows with every minute.  It is July and he wishes that autumn would come quicker.  Why couldn’t they move to the desert?  They could have moved to Arizona, or Wyoming, which some parts have a similar view but with milder temperatures.  Right now, he would give anything to be surrounded by dust, sagebrush, and mountains.  There’s another thing, this place has no mountains!  This place is as flat as his mother’s ironing board. 

Of course, it’s not like he’s never been to Smallville before.  He and Clark used a month each summer working on the Kent farm.  It didn’t pay much, and sometimes the work was grueling, but Oliver enjoyed spending time with the Kents.  Now they are neighbors.  Also, if Oliver will be honest, the girls in this town, from what he’s seen so far, aren’t so bad.  Some of the girls here have thicker ankles than what he’s seen in Star City, but these are farmgirls.  These girls have a little more muscle to them.

He likes it, even if he is only thirteen.

Oliver’s thoughts are brought to an abrupt halt as he misjudges a kick and slips on the grass.  He loses balance and falls, landing on his back hard. 

Panting, he sneers.  “Very funny, Kansas.” 

“At war with nature, are you?”

Without getting up, Oliver looks up and sees the figure of his father, Robert Queen, with…something in his hand.  With a groan, he twists around onto his belly.  Now that he has a clearer view, he rolls his eyes at what it is. 

“Your brother told me that I couldn’t approach you without a white flag, so he made this,” his father explains, gesturing to the ridiculous “flag” made from what looks like a folded piece of paper glued to a tongue depressor. 

Oliver tries to keep a straight face, but fails.  Clark can do a lot of things, but he’s not very crafty.  He can dance and play the piano, but no, not crafty.  Eventually, his humor dies out and he sits up and turns away. 

“What do you want, Dad?” he asks, without looking at his father.  “I didn’t know that Clark had that little green rock stuck in him.”

“I want to apologize,” his dad replies.  “I would never lay a hand on you and I’m sorry that you thought that I was about to.  Also, considering how frantic you were when you burst through the door with Clark, I figure your only concern was getting him back home.  That’s a good thing.”

Oliver scoffs.  “You sure had a funny way of showing it.  What was that green rock anyway?”

“It was a meteor rock.”

Oliver turns around now and frowns at his father.  How can his father be wearing that Louis Vuitton suit in this heat?  Is that something that he will figure out when he’s older?  “A meteor rock?”

“It was a radioactive piece of Clark’s home world,” his father explains.  “A fragment of one of the meteors that struck Smallville the same day that we found Clark.”

Oliver remembers his father telling him about that meteor shower.  He also knows that it’s a secret that cannot be shared with Clark yet.  He’s too young.  “So, your bright idea was for us to move to a town littered with stuff that can hurt my brother?  He might as well be a rat in a snake pit!”

His father frowns at that notion.  “Yes, I suppose you’re right.  That’s why I’m planning to do something about it.”

Oliver’s expression sobers up.  “Is this another one of those ‘I-can’t-talk-about-it’ things?”

His father sighs heavily.  “Yes, buddy, and I’m sorry.”

As if Oliver had never heard _that_ one before.  “I know, Dad.”  He barely registers it as his father comes to stand beside him.  He’s probably concerned about not getting grass stains on his butt. 

“Ollie, are you really going to base your opinion on this town solely on the presence of these meteor rocks?” his father asks reasonably.

“That and there is no ocean nearby,” Oliver replies stubbornly.  He does like the house that they moved into which has an indoor swimming pool—something that their house in Star City lacks due to having to remove the old one.  Still, it doesn’t feel like home.  At least not yet, his mother would say.   

“Didn’t you enjoy Jonathan and Martha taking you to Crater Lake during those summers?”

“It’s not the same!” Oliver snaps. 

“No, but this is our home now.”

Oliver says nothing.  He and Clark went to heroic lengths to keep from moving to Smallville, but to no avail.  He doesn’t care if they still own the house in Star City.  Going out into the nearby woods to play was just an effort to make something good out of a situation they both despised. 

“If you’re not going to make an effort for me, can you at least do it for your mother?” his father tries.

Oliver tries not to, but he nods stiffly.  It’s a lot harder to defy his mother than it is to defy his father.  “Yes.”

“Good,” says his father, sounding unbearably satisfied.  “Now, come on in and clean up.  The Kents are joining us for dinner.”

That actually excites Oliver a bit.  He likes the Kents, a lot.  Maybe he can convince them to save him and Clark from the evils of their parents. 

“Oh and Oliver,” says his father turning around slightly.

Oliver meets his gaze. 

“You did well, buddy.  Don’t think differently.”

Oliver frowns into his father’s back.  Was that all he needed to hear?  If so, it sure seems to be making him feel a bit better.  It hasn’t, however, lessened his resentment for the color green.  In fact, it’s now his least favorite color.  He doesn’t like things that can hurt his kid brother from another _alien_ mother. 

He stares down at his T-shirt.  It’s green.  Without thinking, he takes it off, ready to take it to the trash.  With it bundled up in his hand, he gets up and stalks over to the garbage. Once he reaches it, he lifts the li, but then hesitates.  It’s not a bad-looking shirt, but still it reminds him too much of the things that can hurt his brother.

What if that’s a good reason _to_ wear it?  What if wearing the color is a way of reminding him why he should protect his brother? 

“Oh, screw it,” mutters Oliver.  His slams the lid down and puts his shirt back on.  Given all the dirt that it’s covered in, he should change anyway, but maybe he should continue to wear green. 

Green is bad.  Green _meteor_ rocks can hurt his brother.  And Oliver must always remind himself of that.


End file.
